Turkey aims to provide jobs to 3.2 million more people

By Goksel Yildirim

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish government aims to provide additional employment for 3.2 million persons in the next three years, Turkey's finance minister said on Tuesday.

"The most significant result of our growth target will show itself in employment. In this context, we aim to create extra employment for 3.2 million citizens in the coming three-year period. Thus, we will increase the number of employed to 31.4 million," Naci Agbal stated while presenting the budget to the parliament's Planning and Budget Commission.

Turkey will reduce its unemployment rate to single digits by increasing employment, Agbal added.

The targeted annual unemployment rate at the end of 2017 is 10.8 percent, 10.5 percent for next year, 9.9 percent in 2019 and 9.6 percent in 2020, according to Turkey's Medium Term Program (MTP).

The unemployment rate in Turkey was at 10.7 percent in July, i.e. 28.7 million people, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Agbal said that the government had increased employment opportunities thanks to a strong growth performance and active labor force policies and incentives.

The government has provided employment for 7.9 million people since 2007 and 1.1 million in the past year, Agbal said.

He added that Turkey became the top country among OECD members in terms of providing employment with an average increase of 3.4 percent annually between 2007 and 2017.

The number of employed people in Turkey increased to 27.2 million in 2016, up from 24.8 million in 2012, according to TurkStat.